Directory tree user interface having scrollable subsections

ABSTRACT

A directory tree is displayed and a command is detected to expand a subsection of the directory tree. It is determined whether certain criteria are met for displaying the subsection in a scrollable region within the directory tree. The subsection is presented in the scrollable region if the criteria are met, so that a greater number of members of the directory tree outside the subsection can be displayed within the graphical user interface. Some of the criteria which can be used to determine whether a scrollable subsection should be used include: whether the subsection has more than a predetermined number of members; whether all members of a root node directory of the tree can be displayed if the subsection is fully expanded; and whether the subsection is at a predetermined depth in the directory tree structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to a graphical user interfacefor a computer system. In particular, it relates to a directory treeinterface. More particularly, the present invention relates to a methodand system for scrollable sections of a directory tree.

It is common to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) for userinteraction with a computer system. The GUI presents information aboutthe computer and its components, both hardware and software to the user.Through the user of graphical objects such as windows, icons andcontrols, the user is shown what software modules are available forselection and execution. One of the more prevalent GUIs is a directorytree structure. A directory tree allows the software designer or a userto organize software applications or files which have related subjectmatter or a common theme. By representing software applications orhardware devices as nodes or members in a directory tree, thehierarchical configuration can be used to show logical groupings andrelationships between logical groupings of files or devices.

One prevalent use for a directory tree is as a graphic display whichlists the directories and subdirectories which are stored inelectronically retrievable media such as a disk drive. A directory is acataloging mechanism for files and subordinate directories oftenreferred to as subdirectories. User selectable items are thus presentedin a “tree” structure, hence the term “directory tree”. Nonetheless, adirectory tree need not be used solely for portraying an organized listof directories and subdirectories, but can be used for any type offiles, logical file system objects, software tools or object attributesas well as representations of hardware. Within the directory treestructure, a user can select and manipulate files represented by memberswithin the tree utilizing a mouse, keyboard or other input device. Userselection via a mouse can be accomplished by “pointing and clicking” ona selectable feature on the computer display.

The directory tree may represent software and hardware which is notphysically part of the user's computer system, but is available via anetwork. Users of a directory tree need not be aware of which physicalsystem retrieves or implements a file in response to the selection of anicon. Directory trees provide a flexible means for selection of softwaretools because portions of files, file management systems and softwaretools might be physically in remote or different locations within acomputer memory structure.

While the directory tree structure is useful and is quite prevalentwithin the operating systems and applications of most present daycomputers, when the tree structure is large, it can become unwieldy fora user to manipulate and understand the directory structure. Forexample, in the process of organizing a directory tree, one of the morecommon operations performed by a user is to drag and drop an iconrepresenting a file from a source container, or source position in thetree, into a desired target subdirectory. When the directory and/orsubdirectories are large, the tree expands to a long flat file. It isoften difficult to have both the source and target locations on thedisplay at the same time. Therefore, process of organizing a largedirectory tree is more time consuming than is desirable.

The existing directory tree controls and editing features are limited infunction. Currently, most trees have a control which allows a givensubdirectory to be hidden or collapsed from view. This operation tendsto be an “all or nothing” choice of views. Where the desired target isin a large subdirectory, this is less than ideal. The majority of itemswithin the target subdirectory may be irrelevant to a current task, yetindividual members cannot be hidden or removed from sight. This takes upvaluable display space and necessitates more manipulation by the user toscroll through irrelevant entries.

The lack of good directory tree controls is becoming a significantproblem for users as the number of files and directories within acomputer that a user must manage is growing at a significant rate. Thelarge memory capacity now available in modern personal computers hasbeen utilized by application writers to create software with anincreasing number of components. Further, the linking of external memorythrough interconnected computers has further increased the proliferationof the number of files, software tools and other system objects whichare accessible to and often displayed in a directory tree format to auser.

It would be therefore be desirable to provide a computer user with animproved a directory tree interface that allows the user to see both thetarget and source locations for a given file relocation. It would alsobe desirable that the directory tree interface present the hierarchicalstructure of the tree to provide the understanding of the directory. Theinterface must be flexible enough to allow a user to edit one section ofa directory tree to perform a specific task, and then, after thespecific task is complete, rearrange the directory tree to show otherportions of the directory tree.

Hence, an improved method for making a directory tree more manageablewould be helpful. A directory tree management system havingfunctionality which is tightly coupled or substantially similar inoperation to the existing graphical user interface control features isalso desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide animproved directory tree user interface.

It is another object of the present invention to use similar andunderstandable procedures existing graphical user interfaces so that thefunction the improved directory tree interface would be easilyunderstood.

It is yet another object of the present invention to more easily add andrearrange objects in the directory tree.

The foregoing objects are achieved by managing a directory tree within agraphical user interface. The directory tree is displayed and a commandis detected to expand a subsection of the directory tree. It isdetermined whether certain criteria are met for displaying thesubsection in a scrollable region within the directory tree. Thesubsection is presented in the scrollable region if the criteria aremet, so that a greater number of members of the directory tree outsidethe subsection can be displayed within the graphical user interface.Some of the criteria which can be used to determine whether a scrollablesubsection should be used include: whether the subsection has more thana predetermined number of members; whether all members of a root nodedirectory of the tree can be displayed if the subsection is fullyexpanded; and whether the subsection is at a predetermined depth in thedirectory tree structure.

The above as well as additional objects, features, and advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent in the following detailed writtendescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself however, as well as apreferred mode of use, further objects and advantages thereof, will bestbe understood by reference to the following detailed description of anillustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional computer system which could beutilized to implement the present invention.

FIGS. 2A-2B depict conventional directory tree selections and iconselections displayed within a graphical user interface.

FIGS. 3A-6B illustrate a directory tree interface in accordance with oneimplementation of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a high level flow diagram which provides steps of a method inaccordance with one implementation of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In FIG. 1, a computer 10, comprising a system unit 11, a keyboard 12, amouse 13 and a display 14 are depicted in block diagram form. The systemunit 11 includes a system bus or plurality of system buses 21 to whichvarious components are coupled and by which communication between thevarious components is accomplished. The microprocessor 22 is connectedto the system bus 21 and is supported by read only memory (ROM) 23 andrandom access memory (RAM) 24 also connected to system bus 21.Typically, a microprocessor in an IBM compatible computer is one of theIntel family of microprocessors including the 386, 486 or Pentiummicroprocessors. However, other microprocessors including, but notlimited to, Motorola's family of microprocessors such as the 68000,68020 or the 68030 microprocessors and various Reduced Instruction SetComputer (RISC) microprocessors such as the PowerPC chip manufactured byIBM might be used by the present invention. Other RISC chips made byHewlett Packard, Sun, Motorola and others may be used in the specificcomputer.

The ROM 23 contains among other code the Basic Input-Output system(BIOS) which controls basic hardware operations such as the interactionof the processor with the disk drives and the keyboard. The RAM 24 isthe main memory into which the operating system and application programsare loaded. The memory management chip 25 is connected to the system bus21 and controls direct memory access operations including, passing databetween the RAM 24 and hard disk drive 26 and floppy disk drive 27. The

CD ROM drive 32 also coupled to the system bus 21 is used to store alarge program or amount of data, e.g., a multimedia program orpresentation.

Also connected to this system bus 21 are various I/O controllers: Thekeyboard controller 28, the mouse controller 29, the video controller30, and the audio controller 31. As might be expected, the keyboardcontroller 28 provides the hardware interface for the keyboard 12, themouse controller 29 provides the hardware interface for mouse 13, thevideo controller 30 is the hardware interface for the display 14, andthe audio controller 31 is the hardware interface for the speakers 15.An I/O controller 40 such as a Token Ring Adapter enables communicationover a network 46 to other similarly configured data processing systems.

One of the preferred implementations of the invention is as sets ofinstructions 48-52 resident in the random access memory 24 of one ormore computer systems configured generally as described above. Untilrequired by the computer system, the set of instructions may be storedin another computer readable memory, for example, in the hard disk drive26, or in a removable memory such as an optical disk for eventual use inthe CD-ROM 32 or in a floppy disk for eventual use in the floppy diskdrive 27. Further, the set of instructions can be stored in the memoryof another computer and transmitted in a transmission means such as alocal area network or a wide area network such as the Internet whendesired by the user. One skilled in the art knows that storage ortransmission of the computer program product changes the mediumelectrically, magnetically, or chemically so that the medium carriescomputer readable information.

Further, the invention is often described in terms that could beassociated with a human operator. While the operations performed may bein response to user input, no action by a human operator is desirable inany of the operations described herein which form part of the presentinvention; the operations are machine operations processing electricalsignals to generate other electrical signals.

As is mentioned above, existing directory tree editing functions utilizetedious control functions and provide less than perfect feedback to auser. In FIGS. 2A-2B, directory tree 100 is illustrated in a typical GUIembodiment. Directory tree 100 is displayed within left sub-window 111of explorer window 113. Directory trees are used by the operating systemof a computer as purchased and directory trees can be automaticallycreated when software is loaded into the computer. A user can alsocreate directory trees by creating a directory, giving the directory atitle, and then adding subdirectories, files, or software applicationsinto the directory. Directories are often referred to as folders.

Subdirectories of a directory, typically appear indented from thedirectory title in an “outline” form as depicted in FIGS. 2A-2B.Subdirectories themselves may have subdirectories. For example, thefloppy drive A: subdirectory 115 and hard drive C: subdirectory 117 aresubdirectories of the My Computer subdirectory 119 which itself asubdirectory of desktop directory 121. The subdirectories which areplaced into a folder typically are “linked” by a vertical dotted linewhich can be referred to as a linking indicator. In FIGS. 2A-2B,directories and subdirectories are linked by linking indicators 123,125, and 127. In the right sub-window 129, the contents of the harddrive subdirectory are shown in a detailed view, one of the alternativeviews available in a modern operating system.

A folder such as “Desktop” 121 which is attached to outer linkingindicator 123 is often called a root of the directory tree. The nodeprovides an anchor for attaching a group of subdirectories in ahierarchical format on a directory tree. As shown, the shortcoming inthe depicted “Explorer” embodiment, as well as all known GUIs whichdisplay directory trees, is that when the directories and/orsubdirectories get large the user cannot effectively manipulate thecontents as desired. Note that the subdirectory for the hard drive C:can not be completely displayed; opening lower level subdirectories willfurther exacerbate this problem. Further, the overall structure of thedesktop directory 121 is obscured; the length of the hard drivesubdirectory prevents all of the immediate subdirectories from beingdisplayed.

Thus, only a fraction of the directories and subdirectories stored inthe computer can be displayed at any given time due to the display areaconstraints. Window features such as title bar 131, menu bar 133 andinformation fields 135, while useful for other purposes, further cutdown on the screen area or space available to display directories andsubdirectories on a computer screen.

Typically, user input is accomplished using a pointing device, such as amouse, which controls a graphical pointer icon on a display. Thegraphical pointer icon provides user feedback such that a user can pointto a desired selection utilizing a pointing device. When the graphicalpointer icon is properly positioned, a button can be pressed to make aselection. This is called by those having skill in the art “pointing andclicking” on the selection.

Existing directory tree interfaces utilize the + and − icons to expandand collapse entire directories. For example, all files which are partof the hard drive C: subdirectory 117 can be removed from view byselecting − icon 137 with the mouse pointer. The + and − icons alsoprovide an indication of whether the directory is in a collapsed stateor in an expanded state. The + icon 139 beside the floppy drivesubdirectory 115 indicates that there are members within thesubdirectory which could be displayed in the tree by clicking on theicon. When neither symbol appears to the left of a directory, nosubdirectories exist as a subset of the directory, e.g., m5tools 141.However, utilizing the + or − icons to display or collapse asubdirectory is an all-or-nothing choice. All of the members of thesubdirectory (display space allowing) or none of the members aredisplayed. There is no option to display a portion of the subdirectory.

The reason that this is a problem can be readily seen by reference toFIG. 2. Suppose the user wished to move a file from the floppy disk tothe phsrch 3 subdirectory 143 on his hard drive. Once the user clicks onthe + icon 139 to expand the floppy drive subdirectory 115, so that hemay disappear from view. In this particular example, the interveningsubdirectories on the hard drive are of no immediate interest, yet theytake up valuable display space removing the relevant subdirectory to themove operation, i.e. phsrch 3, from the screen.

In the illustrated embodiment, right sub-window 129 provides icons foruser selection. These icons provides an alternate selection means whichwhen selected have the identical functionality as selecting nodes in thedirectory tree 100. Thus, the icons in the right subwindow 129 can beselected to effect editing functions within the directory tree.

The present invention solves this important problem.

Referring to FIGS. 3A-3B, an improved directory tree interface 200 isdepicted. In accordance with the present invention, within the directorytree 200 a scrollable region 201 is presented within scrollable window211. Scrollable region 201 is scrolled by interaction of the mousepointer icon with scroll bar 203.

The scrollable region 201 is created when the user clicks on the + icon(not shown) associated with the hard drive subdirectory 217 using thegraphical pointer icon. In general, the invention is invoked when alevel, i.e. the subdirectory, of a hierarchical structure, i.e. thedirectory tree, is sought to be expanded. Rather than expanding theentire subdirectory as shown in FIGS. 2A-2B, only part of the hard drivesubdirectory 217 is shown in the scrollable region 201. As shown by theslider 205 in the scroll bar 203, only the first seven subdirectorymembers are shown in the scrollable region 201. By clicking and draggingthe slider 205, other entries within the hard drive subdirectory can beshown, without moving the directory tree as a whole. Note also that theentire set of directory members of the desktop directory is presentedgiving the user a much better idea of the software and hardwarecomponents accessible to his computer.

Note that the scrollable region has been designed to require no morespace than would normally be required in a conventional directory treewith a like number of members. Only the scroll bar and slider are added.However, since this is accomplished in the space between the linkingindicators 225 and 227, no loss of display space is incurred. Featuressuch as title bars and so forth are omitted. Even the scroll bar couldbe omitted, as scrolling could be accomplished by clicking on top andbottom lines 229 and 231. However, since this is a different metaphor tothat which users are accustomed, it is less preferred.

Other features to the scrollable region can be added in alternativeembodiments. While it is expected that bounding the region with lines229 and 231 in the presence of scroll bar 203 will make it intuitive tothe user that region 201 is scrollable, color could be added to thebackground and the subdirectory members within the region 201 to denotethat the behavior of the region is different from the rest of thedirectory tree. In addition, the text of subdirectory entries could bechanged to indicate the presence of more members. For example, the“Delorme Docs” text could be replaced with “Delorme Docs (more \/)” orsimply “(more \/)” where the “\/” is an arrow which indicates thedirection in which additional members can be found.

A number of factors can be used to determine the size, i.e. number ofsubdirectory members, of the scrollable region and whether to make asubdirectory scrollable at all. One determinant can be how manysubdirectory members can be displayed while still displaying all of theimmediate subdirectories of the root directory. Note that in the figurethat all of the immediate subdirectories of the desktop directory aredisplayed. Thus, seven subdirectory members can be displayed within thescrollable region 201. If the hard drive directory 217 had seven orfewer members, there would be no need to incur the additional overheadof creating the scrollable region.

Obviously, the size of the subdirectory is also a factor to beconsidered. Likewise, the size of the display space available to theentire directory tree is a factor. Instead of a rule that all of theimmediate subdirectories of the root directory should be displayed,alternatively some ratio of the number of subdirectory members to bedisplayed within the scrollable area versus the number of directorymembers within the tree at large could be maintained, e.g., 25%. A ratiomight be useful in a situation where the immediate subdirectories of theroot directory are too numerous to be displayed. This ratio couldexpanded if space was available within the display space, i.e. therewere relatively few immediate subdirectories.

A simple rule would be to always invoke the scrollable region if thenumber of subdirectory members exceeded a given number, e.g., five,irrespective of the other members of the directory structure. Thus,subdirectories with six members or more would always be displayed withina scrollable region, while those with five or fewer are displayed in theconventional manner.

It is preferable to have a minimum number of subdirectory members, e.g.,three, within the scrollable region. Too few subdirectory members mightfail to intuitively express the idea that the scrollable region wasindeed scrollable. It would also make manipulation of the scroll barslider more difficult. Nonetheless, it would be possible to have asingle subdirectory member displayed within the scrollable region ifsufficient precision can be employed with the computer input devices.

In the preferred embodiment, clicking on the “−” icon would close thescrollable region similar to the operation in the prior art directorytree which would close the entire subdirectory.

Referring now to FIGS. 4B-4B, the directory tree user interface is shownafter the user has scrolled the scrollable region 201 through the use ofthe scroll bar 203. The reader will notice that the subdirectory memberswithin the region 201 are different than that in FIGS. 3A-3B. Also, theslider 205 is in a different position within the scroll bar 203. Thereader will also notice that the directory tree 200 as a whole has notmoved, i.e. the members outside the scrollable region, so that theimmediate directory members of the root directory are still presented.On the other hand, scrolling the directory tree within the scrollablewindow 211 using main scroll bar 241 moves the position of thescrollable region in lockstep with the movement of the directory tree.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A-5B, the directory tree interface is shownafter the user has opened a new scrollable region 251 within thedirectory tree with its own scroll bar 253 and slider 255. This figureshows that more than one scrollable subdirectory can be opened withinthe directory tree at one time. This is especially convenient when thefiles which need to be moved are hierarchically deep within thedirectory structure. The scroll bars can be adjusted so that therelevant files and subdirectories can be displayed simultaneously. Withlarge and complex directories, this would have been impossible using theprior art approach.

Although not shown, in an alternative embodiment, it might be possibleto have a scrollable region within a scrollable region. For example,suppose that a user which to expand the “Cool 3D” 257 subdirectorywithin scrollable region 251. However, this is believed to bepotentially confusing to the user. What is preferred is that if the userinterface code determines that a second scrollable region is to addedwithin a first scrollable region, the first scrollable region iscollapsed back to the node on which it depends. In this case, region 251would be collapsed to “Cool 3D” 257 which would depend on “Install” 259.

Referring now to FIGS. 6A-6B, an alternative embodiment of the inventionallows a user to change the size of the scrollable region 201 andtherefore the number of the subdirectory members displayed therein. Asshown, pointer icon 271 has been moved to bottom line 231 where it haschanged appearance to the split-pane resize pointer icon. The usergrabbed the bottom line 231 and resized the size of the scrollableregion using a drag and drop operation. This is similar to the knownprocess of resizing a window. Unlike the typical window resize, however,the remainder of the directory tree is moved downward so that it is notobscured. Notice that the folder icon 273 for the D: partition of thehard drive is still visible. In this embodiment, the scrollable regionwould first be presented according to some default criteria such asthose discussed above. If the size of the region was not satisfactory tothe user due to the operation he was planning, he could resize it.

Although not shown, the directory tree interface of the presentinvention in one preferred embodiment presents a dialog box to the userif an “advanced properties” control is selected. Using the dialog box,the user could toggle the scrollable region behavior on and off. If thebehavior was turned off, the directory tree structure would behave inthe prior art manner. The advanced properties dialog could also allowthe user to specify the size of the scrollable region according to hisown preferences and experience.

A very high level flow diagram is shown in FIG. 7. The process starts instep 301 when the directory tree is displayed. In step 303, an event isdetected and a test is performed to determine whether it is an eventdirected at the directory tree or some other part of the interface. Inthe event is not directed at the tree, other processing, step 305, takesplace. If the event was directed at the directory tree, another test isperformed to determine whether it is a user input to expand asubdirectory, step 307. If not, normal processing related to thedirectory tree is performed, step 317.

If the event was to expand a subdirectory, for example, the user clickson the + icon, data on the members, e.g., names, associated icons,number is retrieved, in step 309. The depth of the subdirectory withinthe directory tree is retrieved in step 311. In one preferredembodiment, a scrollable region is not used to present the immediatesubdirectories of the root node since the window in which the tree ispresented already has a scroll bar. A second would be superfluous. Thesize of the window in which the directory is retrieved in step 313.There is no particular importance to the order in which this informationis retrieved; some of the data listed may not be retrieved if it is notrelevant to the decision whether to present a scrollable region for thesubdirectory in the directory tree. If a scrollable region is presentedif the subdirectory exceeds five members, no matter what the depth andwindow size data is irrelevant. Other information could be retrieved forother decision criteria.

Next, in step 315, the decision whether to present a scrollable regionis made. Many of the possible decision criteria have been discussedabove, e.g., number of members in the subdirectory, whether the overalldirectory tree structure is to be presented if possible, depth of thesubdirectory in the directory tree. The particular tests performed instep 315 will thus vary according to the criteria set by the userinterface designer. This step could comprise several different testsdepending upon the criteria used by the interface designer.

If the decision criteria are not met, normal processing occurs, step317, i.e. presenting the subdirectory with all of its members.Presuming, however, that the scrollable region criteria are met, in step319, the subdirectory is presented within a scrollable region as shownin FIGS. 3A-6B. The creation of the scroll bar and other features of thescrollable region are part of this step.

In step 321, a test is performed to determine whether there is an eventin the scrollable region. If not, normal processing occurs, step 317. Ifso, a test at step 323 is performed to determine whether scrollingshould occur due to user actuation of the scroll controls for theregion. If not, the event was probably a normal selection which ishandled by normal processing, step 317, for the directory tree. If theevent was a scroll command, the scrollable region is scrolled, leavingthe remainder of the tree in place, step 325. The process stops, step327, when the directory tree is closed.

In the flow diagram, the normal processing steps, i.e. selection anddragging a selected item are not depicted as they are very similar tothe normal operations associated with the directory tree. Some of theoptional steps such as resizing the size of the scrollable region inresponse to user manipulation of the top and/or bottom lines are alsonot depicted.

It is preferred that the present invention provides similar techniquesto that of existing GUIs so that a user's expectations are met. Thepresent invention provides changes to a directory structure whichprimarily differ in the nature of its presentation. No manipulations areperformed on the actual organizational structure within the memory ofthe computer system.

The present invention finds application in an operating system of acomputer to manage files and directories as well as software moduleassociated with the hardware. The invention can also be used in avariety of other arenas. It can be used in a structured document editorsfor a markup language such as XML. As a structured document is like abig nested data structure, it is often shown as a tree. If a particularnested substructure is larger than a specified size, the scrollableregion of the present invention can be invoked.

The invention could also be utilized in a GUI editors whore a layout fora graphical interface can be thought of as a nested structure, startingwith the outer window layer and working into regions of the window andultimately to individual elements, e.g., (text fields, buttons, etc.) AGUI editor which presents the structure in tree form could be enhancedby the invention.

The invention can also be extended to Lightweight Directory AccessProtocol (LDAP) on-line directories. LDAP is a popular protocol andemerging Internet standard based on organizing information inhierarchies according to well-defined layers of grouping. For example,LDAP directories of people usually have a hierarchy like “country”, “orgtype”, “org name”, “division”, “department”, “person”. The directory isusually made available to a network so that a number of users can accessthe data. Thus, the invention will generally be useful in an applicationin which data is often represented on screen by a tree or nestedstructure.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for managing a directory tree within agraphical user interface, comprising the steps of: displaying adirectory tree, in a substantially columnar form wherein subsections ofthe tree are demarcated by indentation and are indented by an amountless than an average width of members within a subsection; detecting acommand to expand a subsection of the directory tree; determiningwhether criteria are met for displaying the subsection in a scrollableregion within the directory tree; and presenting the subsection in thescrollable region if the criteria are met, wherein the scrollable regionis presented within the directory tree at the indentation assigned tothe subsection, so that a greater number of members of the directorytree outside the subsection can be displayed within the graphical userinterface.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein one criteria iswhether the subsection has more than a predetermined number of members.3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein one criteria is whether allmembers of a root node directory of the tree can be displayed if thesubsection is fully expanded.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein one criteria is whether the subsection is at a predetermineddepth in the directory tree structure.
 5. The method as recited in claim1, wherein the scrollable region is presented with its own scrollingcontrol for independently scrolling the scrollable region with respectto higher levels of the directory tree.
 6. The method as recited inclaim 1, wherein the scrollable region is resizable according to userinput manipulations.
 7. The method as recited in claim 6, whereinmembers outside the scollable region are relocated responsive to aresizing action on the scrollable region.
 8. The method as recited inclaim 1, further comprising the steps of: detecting a command to expanda lower level subsection of the directory tree within the scrollableregion; determining whether criteria are met for displaying the lowerlevel subsection in a lower level scrollable region; collapsing thescrollable region; and presenting the lower level subsection in thelower level scrollable region.
 9. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein the directory tree is an operating system interface used to showa user an accessible set of files on a computer system.
 10. The methodas recited in claim 1, wherein the directory tree is an interface to anetwork directory accessible to a plurality of users via a network. 11.A system including process, memory, display and input devices formanaging a directory tree within a graphical user interface, comprising:means for displaying a directory tree on the display, in a substantiallycolumnar form wherein subsections of the tree are demarcated byindentation and are indented by an amount less than an average width ofmembers within a subsection; means for detecting a command to expand asubsection of the directory tree; means for determining whether criteriaare met for displaying the subsection in a scollable region within thedirectory tree; and means for presenting the subsection in thescrollable region if the criteria are met, wherein the scrollable regionis presented within the directory tree at the indentation assigned tothe subsection, so that a greater number of members of the directorytree outside the subsection can be displayed within the graphical userinterface.
 12. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein one criteriais whether the subsection has more than a predetermined number ofmembers.
 13. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein one criteria iswhether all members or a root node directory of the tree can bedisplayed if the subsection fully expanded.
 14. The system as recited inclaim 11, wherein at least one member of the subsection is modified toprovide an indication that more information can be scrolled into thescrollable region.
 15. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein thescrollable region is presented with its own scrolling control forindependently scrolling the scrollable region with respect to higherlevels of the directory tree.
 16. The system as recited in claim 11,wherein the scrollable region is resizable according to user inputmanipulations.
 17. the system as recited in claim 16, wherein membersoutside the scrollable region are relocated responsive to a resizingaction on the scrollable region.
 18. A computer program product in acomputer usable medium for managing a directory tree within a graphicaluser interface, comprising: means for displaying a directory tree on thedisplay, in a substantially columnar form wherein subsections of thetree are demarcated by indentation and are indented by an amount lessthan an average width of members within a subsection means for detectinga command to expand a subsection of the directory tree; means fordetermining whether criteria are met for displaying the subsection in ascrollable region within the directory tree; and means for presentingthe subsection in the scrollable region if the criteria are met, whereinthe scrollable region is presented within the directory tree at theindentation assigned to the subsection, so that a greater number ofmembers of the directory tree outside the subsection can be displayedwithin the graphical user interface.
 19. The product as recited in claim18, wherein one criteria is whether the subsection has more thanpredetermined number of members.
 20. The product as recited in claim 18,wherein one criteria is whether all members of a root node directory ofthe tree can be displayed if the subsection is fully expanded.
 21. Theproduct as recited in claim 18, wherein one criteria is a ratio of adisplay space allocated to displaying the subsection compared to aremainder whether the subsection is at a predetermined depth in thedirectory tree structure.
 22. The product as recited in claim 18,wherein the scrollable region is presented with its own scrollingcontrol for independently scrolling the scrollable region with respectsto higher levels of the directory tree.
 23. The product as recited inclaim 18, wherein the scrollable region is resizable to user inputmanipulations.
 24. The product as recited in claim 23, wherein membersoutside the scrollable region are relocated responsive to a resizingaction on the scrollable region.
 25. A method for managing a directorytree within a graphical user interface, comprising the steps of:presenting the directory tree within a scrollable window, in asubstantially columnar form wherein subdirectories of the tree aredemarcated by indentation and are indented by an amount less than anaverage width of members within a subdirectory; responsive to a commandto expand a subdirectory within the directory tree, presenting thesubdirectory within a separate scrollable region within the directorytree wherein the scrollable region is presented within the directorytree at the indentation assigned to the subdirectory; wherein scrollingthe subdirectory within the scrollable region does into move directorymembers outside the scrollable region.
 26. The method as recited inclaim 25 wherein scrolling the directory tree within the scrollablewindow moves the position of the scrollable region with the movement ofthe directory tree.